An anonymous call just after midday yesterday led the police to a human skeleton in Qala with forensic experts now trying to establish the identity.

The skeleton was found in a field close to the sea and was later taken to Mater Dei Hospital’s morgue where tests are being conducted that would hopefully help in identifying the person. Sources said the police strongly suspected that the remains belonged to 80-year-old Briton Geoffrey Morgan, a dementia sufferer, who went missing five months ago.

However, officially the police would not say anything on the identity as they prefer to wait for the scientific results.

Mr Morgan is the only person reported missing in Gozo and still unaccounted for.

Medical experts said that when a body was exposed to the elements, such as heat, rain and sea spray, it could take just a few months for it to become a skeleton. It usually takes longer for a body to reach that stage in a more protected environment.

Mr Morgan, whose mother was Maltese, was on holiday with his family when he was reported missing on June 5. That morning he was getting ready for breakfast with his wife and daughter when he slipped out of the front door of their Għajnsielem flat. That was the last time his family saw him.

He was wearing a dark red striped shirt, khaki coloured shorts and black shoes. Police sources said there were no clothes with the remains found in Qala.

A few days after he was reported missing, about 60 people embarked on an extensive search in the hope of finding him. But the search was unsuccessful.

About 70 people reported missing since 1970 have still not been traced, according to Crimemalta.com website run by criminologist Saviour Formosa.